sargent



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

F. G.\& A. G. SARGENT.

WOOL WASHER.

Patented Apr. 4.1882,

M No

' (No Modl.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.'

F. G. 85 C. SARGEN'T.

WOOL WASHER.

N0. 256,057.' Patented Apr. 4,1882.

ETCR W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

FREDERICK Gr. SARGENT AND ALLAN G. SARGENT, OF GRANITEVILLE, MASS,

WOOL-WASHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 256,057, dated April 4,1882.

Application filed June13.1881. (K011101101) I To all whom it may concernBe it known that we, FREDERICK Gr. SAR- GENT and ALLAN O. SARGENT,ofGraniteville, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts,have invented a new and useful Wool-Washing Machine, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Our invention relates to machines in whic the wool to be scoured orcleansed is put into a bowl or tank containing a liquid suitable toscour or cleanse it, and by a mechanism contained therein moved forwardto a pair of squeeze rolls, by which the saturating-fluid is squeezedfrom the wool; and the object of our invention is to provide a mechanismwhich shall move the wool forward through the bowl by means of asliding-forward mechanism, which shall require no carriers to take thewool up from the liquid in the tank to the squeezerolls, and which shallseparate and thin down the large masses as they pass into the machine. eaccomplish this objectv by themechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section. Fig. 2is a plan.

A is the bowl, trough, or tank, into which the scouring-liquid isplaced.

B is a rotary fan-wheel or plunger, which takes the wool as it is fed tothe machine and snbmerges it in the fluid contained therein. Thisfan-wheel has upon each of its wings a row of teeth, I). As thefan-wheel is driven at a slow rate, these teeth serve to hold the woolsomewhat as it is taken by the hereinafter-described forwardingmechanism, and in coaction with it to separate or even out the largermasses.

0 (J are slide-conveyers lying upon the false bottom D, which is placedat such a height above the bottom of the tank as to hold the conveyersnear enough to the surface of the fluid in the tank to prevent the woolfrom floating freely when saturated without coming into contact with thespines or teeth which form part of each conveyer. The conveyers G G arecomposed of the bars 0 c, which have attached to them the upwardforward-projecting teeth,c 0 The slide-conveyers O O are given areciprocating movement by the eccentrics E E, which are attached to theshaft 0. As the throw of the eccentric E is placed on the opposite sideof the shaft from that of the eccentric E, the slide-conveyors will bemoved in oppositedircctions at the same moment, so that while one ismoving toward the squeezerolls the other will be moving in the oppositedirection, and when the movement of the first is reversed that of thesecond will be also. The bars of the conveyers O O are placed sufficiently far apart, so that the liquidin thetank can freely pass betweenthem and through the holes in the false bottom into the body of the bowlbelow. The teeth or spines of the conveyers are placed at such an angleof forward inclination that the backward movement of the conveyers willhave little or no tendency to pull the wool with them, and as willpermit them to easily slide under the wool during such backwardmovement. This angle we have ascertained to be about an angle of thirtydegrees with the slide-bars to which the teeth are attached; but in somecases it may be increased somewhat; but in no case must it be more thanforty-five degrees.

G G are two conveyers, placed above or near the surface of theliqnid inthe tank, having their slide-bars g 9 supported upon rods h h, whichextend from one side of the bowl to the other and are connectedtherewith. These two couveyers have downward and forward projectingteeth m n, which extend downward in the liquid in the tank, and theconveyers have a reciprocating motion given them by the eccentrics K Ksubstantially like that given the conveyers O 0, already described. Thebars of the conveyers G G are placed above the spaces, which are betweenthe lower conveyers O C, but maybe placed parallel with and directlyabove the lower conveyers, if so desired, and space be left between thelower and uppcrteeth for the fibcrbeing washed to pass.

L M N are squeeze-rolls, the roll L submerged and the rolls M and Nbeing partly submerged, but being at their point of contact just abovethe surface of the fluid in the tank.

The operation ofthe machine may be thus described: The wool, being fedinto the machine, will, by the rotation of the fan-wheel B, be submergedin the liquid in the tank, and as it is carried down it will be caughtby the teeth or spines of the conveyers as they move forward, and thewool will thereby be pulled out from under the fan-wheel; but as manymovements of the conveyers will occur during a single rotation of thefan-wheel, any large masses will be considerably separated or drawn outby the action of the conveyers, while still held by the fan-wheel andthe teeth 1) upon its Wings. After the wool is carried out from underthe fan-wheel it will, while floating in the liquid above the'convcyers, be so submerged with the liquid contained in the tank thatit will still bear upon the spines or teeth sufficiently, so that as theconveyers move forward the teeth will hook into the under part of thesaturated masses of wool, pulling them downward and moving them forward,while with the return movement of the conveyers the wool will be liftedup by the inclined teeth,while they pass under it.

As the greatdegree ofinclination of the teeth from-the perpendicularpermits them to lift the wool as they pass backward under it, suchinclination also causes them to pull the wool down'iuto the liquid asthe conveyers move forward, so that it is alternately pulled down andlifted up in the liquid, and the dirt and foreign substances washed outby the rush back and forth of the scouring-liquid caused by suchmovementof the wool. The escape of thedirt, &c., is also considerablyfacilitated by the separation of the fibers caused by the frequent entryof the tines of the conveyers into the floatingmasses as they passthrough the machine, so that'by the time it reaches thesqueeze-rolls itwill be quite thoroughly washed and freed from dirt and other foreignsubstances. WVhen the wool passes between the upper and lower conveyersthe forward movement of the fiber audits undulatorymovementin the fluidis considerably assisted by the upper conveyers, so that the woolwillpass from between them quite thoroughly cleansed. As the woolreaches the squeeze-rolls it will be compressed by therolls L N as itpasses between them, and will be again saturated as it passes out; butas it is taken by the roll M and passes between the rolls M and N itwill be squeezed again and be discharged above the surface of the liquidin the tank.

It will be observed that by this mechanism we avoid the use of vibratingrakes to move the wool through thefluid which must be raised and carriedback over the surface of the liquid, and we also dispense with thecarrier mechanism to carry up the wool from theliquidin the tank to thesqueeze-rolls, thus making a very simple and cheap machine.

VVhat' we claim as new and ofourinvention 1. The combination of the bowlA and squeeze-rolls M N with the submerged conveyers (J O, placedhorizontally in the bottom of the washing-space of the bowl,substantially as described.

2. The'oombination of the trough of awoolwashing machine with a seriesof reciprocating toothed bars, placed substantially horizontal in thebottom of the washingspace and adapted to feed the fiber forward underthe liquor, in place of the ordinary overhead-rakes, all substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of the bowl A, squeezerolls M N, plunger B, conveyorsO, and conveyers G, substantially as described.

FREDERICK GRANDERSON SARGENT. ALLAN CAMERON SARGE ST. Witnesses:

ARTHUR B. PLIMPTON, H. W. Ouuncn.

